This is a comic commenting on reactions to new transportation technology throughout history. Read all the what’s and why’s for this strip after the jump.

The vehicles in the comic are:

1903: Horatio Nelson Jackson‘s Winton Motor Carriage. This was the first car to make a transcontinental drive. Keep in mind there was no roof or a windshield and there were only a few hundred miles of paved roads at the time! I chose this event not because it was “the first car” but because it was one of the first to prove that the automobile could potentially replace the horse and buggy.

1903 (again): The Wright Brother’s Wright Flyer. It was the first heavier than air vehicle to make a controlled flight. I picked this plane for obviously reasons, but mainly because it represents the most basic demonstration of powered flight. No one at the time, including the Wright brother, could imagine in what direction or how quickly the airplane would develop. In only 6 decades we built a jet that could travel 3 times the speed of sound, and fly 16 miles high, the SR-71 Blackbird. In my opinion the Blackbird is the pinnacle in aircraft design.

2004: Scaled Composites Spaceship One. Burt Rutan‘s ship was the first privately funded vehicle to carry a person on a suborbital trajectory. This vehicle, like the Wright Flyer, isn’t a practical vehicle but a proof of concept that such things are possible.

I know people have said since the 1950’s that “convenient space travel is just around the corner” but the truth is we’re only now seeing breakthroughs and sponsorships that may finally lead to that reality. Spaceship One and companies like Space X show more promise ever before. I am hopeful that we can break through this next barrier of transportation in a timely fashion. I know it will take passionate dedication, substantial funding, and unyielding courage, but I believe it is worth the effort. Not for any vision I may have, but for the future that is unimagined.